Theater Talk

November 21, 2013

After doing his own solo version of
A Christmas Carol solo for quite a few years, central Ohio actor Brent Burington was eager
to try something new for the holidays.
So when he saw an audition notice early this year for the Nebraska Theatre Caravan’s annual
winter tour of Dickens’ classic, the Columbus native jumped at the chance to show his stuff.
His experience and talent paid off: Burington was cast in the pivotal role of Scrooge in the
2013 production, which will run Nov. 29 through Dec. 1 at the Ohio Theatre.
"The biggest challenge this time is they have a really good script, but very different from
the one I’ve been doing for 20 years now as a one-man show," Burington told me recently.
"So I need to make sure to honor their script and not slip into my old lines."

November 14, 2013

The spirit of Shadowbox Live isn’t that far from the spirit of Monty
Python, the zany British comedy troupe.
Comical case in point: Shadowbox Live’s popular fall production of
Spamalot, which will end Sunday after a multi-month run.
Few theater troupes have a chance to bring their own sensibilities to a Broadway musical as
passionately or as well as Shadowbox has done with this zany meta-theatrical stage adaptation and
extension of the 1975 film
Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

November 08, 2013

Out-of-work actors often must take day jobs at restaurants.
Sounds mundane, even boring, but playwright Becky Mode was inspired by that everyday reality
to write
Fully Committed, which became an off-Broadway hit and ranked among
Time magazine’s top-10 new plays of the year.
"It’s a
tour de force comedy about this guy answering the phones at this hoity-toity Upper East
side restaurant," said actor Jeff Horst, who stars at CATCO.